In the orginal Boxes, never installed.

QTY: 200 Available

Special Price: $925/Unit

About the IBM 4846-565

*Note: MSR is NOT included 

Interview with Mark Wagner, Account Manager, OEM/VAR Team

Epson is a leading supplier of POS technology solutions and has been for many years, how do you think e-receipts and other new online/receipt technology will affect Epson’s leadership?

Mark: We don’t envision paper receipts going away anytime soon. While it’s true digital receipts are becoming more popular, there are drawbacks. Some customers don’t want to provide e-mail information for obvious privacy concerns, and others want something they can hold onto as proof of the transaction. Either way, the safest bet for some time to come will still be for retailers to listen to customers and offer the option of a digital or printed receipt.

Epson was recently named Best Channel Vendor for the Fourth Year in a Row in Business Solutions Magazine’s Annual Survey. What is the key to maintaining great relationships with all your resellers?

Mark: We advocate for resellers and offer a partnership approach, rather than a vendor relationship. At Epson, we roll up our sleeves and work in close collaboration with partners to develop a mutually shared vision of success. Having the breadth and depth of products with reliable, global service and support, along with a strong, solid commitment to the channel keeps Epson top of mind with our loyal resellers.

What has been the leading contributor to Epson’s POS printer success in the past and how do you think Epson will continue to be a leader into the future?

Mark: Retailers want printers that work consistently and dependably above all. Epson prides itself on its strengths in technical engineering and software /driver support. As a result, Epson printers are true working solutions, not just commodity peripherals. In addition, we host “Voice of the Customer” product tours with key OEMs, VARs and end users to gather intelligence for next generation products. We take requirements, ideas and criticisms back to our design teams. This collaborative approach yields products with better, more customer driven features and functionality.  

What are some great new products/features Epson has added to its repertoire recently?

Mark: Epson’s new TM-T88V and TM-H6000IV offer significant enhancements to already best in class printers at the same price as previous models, which means more bang for the buck. With 50% faster print speeds, the TM-T88V also has an industry leading, four-year warranty, Energy Star certification, dual interface and significant, cost savings paper reduction features. The paper reduction feature is an innovative firmware utility (no changes needed to POS software application), and enables end users to greatly reduce consumables/paper costs. For example, with the TM-T88V set at full 75% paper reduction mode, paper costs can be reduced by over $300 per printer in five years with a savings of over 200 lbs. of paper. For users with 1000 printers, this could mean a cost savings of over $300K in five years.

There is a simple solution. Send it to us! Retail Tech is a licensed hazardous waste handler and all equipment is transported and disposed of in accordance with EPA guidelines.

Among the PC’s, laptops, printers, and monitors Retail Tech disposed of in 2011, we are proud to say that we recycled over 500,000 pounds of electronic scrap alone! That is equal to about 7,142 lanes of IBM SurePOS 700 systems,

Or

 About this many Ford F-150 trucks…

…99 to be exact (didn’t want to make you count).

Our recycling efforts are not limited to our customer’s needs; we recycle all of Retail Tech’s material waste as well. Aside from electronic scrap, we have recycled:

96,000 lbs. of Scrap Metal

1,727 wood pallets

+ 162,080 lbs. of Cardboard Waste

A whole lotta’ recycling

There is always room for growth, and we are committed to increasing our efforts in 2012. Help us as we continue on our quest to eliminate POS scrap, in the right way.

Learn more about the Retail Tech Electronics Recycling program by contacting a representative.

Retail Tech also provides Electronic Hard Drive Destruction. Click Here to learn more.

Win for Creativity:

I LOVED the Teradata booth. The design was not only in the shape of a plane, the booth staff was all wearing stewardess and pilot attire. Now, that is a commitment to creativity! The marketing ploy roped me in, and I am sure many other onlookers who were curious as to what this company had to offer. This was by far the hardest category to judge as a lot of event coordinators brought their “A” games when designing booths this year.

Most Innovative:

Google takes the cake for me. It is hard to mess with this mastermind of a company. Showcasing the Google Wallet, the booth came complete with a pack-man, claw game and a few other fun activities for people to flash their mobile wallet and “pay to play.” If the mobile wallet continues to sweep the retail world, customer payment, as we now know it, will change forever. Touché, Google.

Highest Traffic Volume:

As I moseyed through the Expo Hall, I worked hard to avoid the booths with the most people (the record breaking 25,000+ attendees were a bit overwhelming). Despite my preferences, I needed to check out our partner, IBM as it is always interesting to see what they have in store. For the record, it was not an easy task. Not only did I trip stepping into the booth, I proceeded to watch a demo regardless of my heel continuously getting stepped on by passerby’s. The experience was less than enjoyable, but I couldn’t help, but want to learn more. Needless to say, I was in the booth for almost an hour, turning into one of the traffic hazards myself, while I marveled at the flocking masses. Demos were going on throughout the booth on topics including “The Smarter Consumer,” “Smarter Checkout”, “Cross-Channel Order Management,” “The Integrated Mobile Manager” and many others. Let’s just say, I would be surprised if the IBM employees had any chance to breathe. Everyone wanted to see what was in the pipeline for IBM.

Interactive Genius:

Cisco Systems showcased StyleMe, an Immersive Digital Shopping Platform (try saying that 5 times fast). Attendees were able to demo this product by standing in front of “the virtual fashion mirror.” Simple hand motions allowed the demonstrator to try on different garment and accessory options. Not only was this entertaining for people in passing, it gave retailers a true idea of how the platform would act in their stores. Don’t be surprised to see this technology in some of your favorite retail stores soon!

Best Booth Giveaway:

I am awarding Lexmark with the most entertaining, and noticeable giveaway. Who would have thought light up glasses would have been such a hit? These fashion sunglasses from Lexmark traveled around the show floor as retailers and exhibitors alike sported this snazzy accessory. The verdict is still out if these glasses attributed to increased sales for the printer mogul, but either way, I applaud them for effort. Plus, iPad giveaways are getting old people. I am still convinced that the “give away” doesn’t make it very far.

Ok, I know I missed some…what other booths did you deem “award worthy?”

“The popularity and acceptance of e-commerce, mobile devices, and social media continues to explode around us, but customers tell us that the store remains the best means for retailers to communicate with shoppers and offer them a positive brand experience,” said Steve Ladwig, general manager, IBM Retail Store Solutions. “The new line of IBM smarter checkout offerings allows retailers to deliver timely, relevant information, products and services to multiple points of commerce. Simply, transforming the traditional transaction process to give the customer a seamless experience across all touch points puts stores on par with the speed and convenience shoppers enjoy through purely on-line or mobile channels. Plus, with the investments retailers are making in analytics and next-best action capabilities, smarter checkout should enhance their ability to act on customer insights.”

According to a recent IBM Institute of Business Value (IBV) study, retailers are struggling to stay profitable, productive and competitive while trying to satisfy and retain a new breed of customers who are more price conscious and demanding — consumers who expect to engage with brands when and how they want through multiple integrated channels such as the web, mobile, social media, and the phone, remotely as well as in the traditional retail store. The survey also indicated that consumers consider the traditional store their number one place to shop. In addition to normal shopping, important parts of e-commerce or mobile transactions still occur at the store, such as pick-up, return, and other in-store services, with 85 percent of purchase decisions made in the store.

The Winn-Dixie supermarket chain is among a number of IBM clients using IBM retail technology to “revolutionize” customer checkout and expand brand loyalty programs. Winn-Dixie is known for using technology to support health and fresh guests’ selections and other business strategies that help transform customer service, speed innovation and increase operational efficiency at its 484 store locations and other store formats across the Southeastern United States. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, the retailer is deploying a network of IBM SurePOS™ 700 systems as part of a plan to build smarter retail stores across the entire operation, from point-of-sale to enterprise.

“This new technology will help introduce services quickly and seamlessly to improve our guests’ shopping experience,” said Maura Hart, Winn-Dixie group vice president and CIO.

IBM offers retailers immersive, service-oriented, profit-generating technology that supports the newest trends, from mobile shopping to remote management, to easy to wake “deep sleep” power automation for service on demand. Its next generation store operating platform, IBM 4690 OS, Version 6.3, provides retailers proven, industry-leading technology capable of taking customer service and in-store transformation to entirely new levels. It includes flexible and dynamic Java6 and Firefox browser capabilities that expand checkout functionality, and open up third-party and cross-channel sales opportunities to help make the point-of-sale a new profit center, while managing business complexity and risk.

The IBM SurePOS 700™ Series brings the power and high-performance that retailers need to handle demanding customer service solutions and deliver deeper, more profitable relationships. A choice of configurations and new designs make the system easy to place in more retail environments than ever before.

The new IBM SurePOS 300™ Series is for retailers who need a versatile point-of-sale system for smaller spaces, and need advanced technology to drive high-demand store solutions with the lowest possible risk and cost. Now available for the first time with IBM 4690 OS, the IBM SurePOS 300™ makes it easy for retailers of all sizes to make checkout smarter and more profitable.

IBM is the world’s number one point-of-sale solution provider, offering clients rugged, rock-solid systems that provide virtually tool-free serviceability for around-the-clock performance. IBM’s powerful SurePOS 700™, SurePOS 300™ systems, 4690 Operating System, and select IBM System x™ and BladeCenter™ servers, support existing store systems and peripherals, as well as allow retailers to deploy new technology with close to plug-and-play efficiency.

The new products will be available worldwide during first half 2012.

About IBM
For additional information about IBM Smarter Checkout solutions, visit: www.ibm.com/products/retail/smartercheckout.

IBM, SurePOS 700™, SurePOS 300™, 4690 Operating System, System x™, and BladeCenter™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Other company products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies in the U.S. and/or other countries.

About Retail Tech

Retail Tech is a Premier IBM Business Partner and the IBM POS Consignment Vendor. As an industry leading point of sale reseller, at Retail Tech, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide any solution for any budget. In fact, when it comes to point of sale hardware, we do it all. Ask us how we can extend your hardware lifecycle, provide system integration and logistic services, create hybrid solutions, reduce your hardware maintenance costs, and provide end of life hardware disposal.

James E. (Jim) Smith
IBM External Relations
(914) 766-4385 or 203-232-7000 (cell)
smithje@us.ibm.com
http://facebook.com/Jim0528

For Retailers Requiring High Speed Receipt Printing and Check Processing

NRF 101st Annual Convention & Expo:Epson America, Inc.

A retailers’ strategy is anything but stagnant. Operators are continuously looking for new ways to change and improve their processes. Especially right now, organizations are asking themselves a number of questions regarding the POS environment. Do we allocate our entire budget toward mobile technology? Do we wait to see what other retailers do, and adopt alongside the late movers? What is our target customer demographic…do they even have smartphones? If so, would they use tablet/mobile technology if we had it? All of these are excellent questions, and I am sure prior to the New Year most retailers have either determined the answer, or will be making a decision after attending NRF in a week. Ultimately, despite the new technology, retailers are forced to make choices based on the current state of the economy as well as what will increase sales. Aside from these factors, this blog post attempts to connect another business philosophy. The question at hand, can it be applied to the Point of Sale?

Think Local, Act Local

 If you were like me in college and actually did your business assignments (yes, I am tooting my own horn), you probably remember a philosophy called “Think Local, Act Local.” This strategy allows businesses to tailor operations and offerings depending on their smaller communities and followers. As opposed to, “Think Global, Act Local,” where processes are centralized, retailers have the ability to connect with their smaller communities while still maintaining a strong global presence. While this philosophy is not a new phenomenon, social networking and a greater focus on customer loyalty has allowed retailers to think about “Think Local, Act Local” in a different light. I believe this implementation will continue to spread as companies adapt and realize monetary potential with this strategy.

Here’s one example, in a recent Washington Post Business article entitled Holiday 2011 Shopping: A tough economy sharply divides winners and losers, Macy’s Department Store is on top of the list of winners. Specifically stated, “The department store chain is benefiting from its sweeping plan to tailor merchandise to local markets (sound familiar?).”

How does this relate to POS?

Now comes my question… how do you apply this localization concept when determining the point of sale for your stores (you didn’t think I would really write a blog and not connect POS did you?  )? For example, take a single Walgreens Pharmacy. If Walgreen’s has a location in the vicinity of a senior living facility, investing in smartphone checkout may not be wise (or profitable). Wouldn’t it be ideal for stores to match their POS technology with their specific store demographic, just as it is for McDonald’s to match their product offerings to reflect the areas culture (Do you really think beef hamburgers are served in India?).

Understandably so, most retailers have certain point of sale reporting that needs to go to corporate. My question is, as long as the reporting is still standard, can the point of sale be tailored on an individual store level? If so, the answer to investing in mobile technology seems pretty simple. Know your audiences — “Think Local, Act Local.”

I would love to hear what you think on this topic. Maybe my ideas are farfetched, or maybe retailers have already considered this? Tell me about it!

Related Articles:

5 Ways Chain Retailers are Localizing Their Stores

       –Notable worldwide home furnishings chain

We received this reply after shipping enough systems for an entire store of fully integrated, “checkstand ready,” refurbished IBM SurePOS 700 terminals (try saying that five times fast). While we were happy this customer’s equipment was well received, it is the latter part of that quote that really struck us. We work really hard to create a seamless unboxing process for retailers and this example goes to show that retailers do appreciate our methods.

We aim to be good, real good

While packaging and logistics may not be the most enthralling part of the business, it should not be downplayed. In fact, it is one of the most vital parts of our business. We do not manufacture the equipment. Rather, we receive the POS hardware from the manufacturers, assemble it, and ship it out to our customers. For many of the machines, we have custom foam pieces that fit right into the shipped boxes. If the equipment arrives to our customers late, in a destroyed box, then we were not successful. It is that simple.

As you would imagine, we ship hundreds of boxes each day, of all shapes and sizes. which is why we have also implemented an initiative to reuse the boxes if we can. Clearly, we do not reuse the boxes that have been damaged in prior shipments, but many show up virtually untouched, so rather than stuffing them in recycling, we use them again. …Similar to re-gifting at Christmas, but less offensive. If you see a recycling sticker (like below) on your box, you have been a part of the Retail Tech box re-gifting program. Thank you for helping us reduce our carbon footprint!Next time you receive a box from Retail Tech (which will hopefully be in the near future); we hope you think about the thought that went into that shipment, how it was packaged, and the care that your point of sale hardware received.

Written by: Samantha Noble, Marketing Manager